The PS4 Is Now More Expensive Locally

Thought the gaming industry was immune to all the waste our government has been lying to our country of late? Think again. With the plummeting Rand value decreasing by whole percentages every day now, local Sony distributor Ster Kinekor has had no option but to increase the price of a PS4 console locally.

In fact, it’s already started at a few retailers. Lazygamer reports that Takealot and Animeworx have both increased their prices of the console to R6799 and R6599 respectively, despite neither even having stock. Animeworx is also expected to increase their price more once the new batch of stock has arrived.

Ster Kinekor then released a statement regarding the retailer price hikes, saying that it was a case of the Rand being so weak.

“As a result of the continued weakening of the Rand against major currencies we have had no alternative but to increase the price of the recently launched PS4 console. We have made every effort to minimise the impact of the Rand devaluation and will continue in our efforts to make the PS4 and other formats as affordable as possible”

Imports become more expensive, and so we’re left to suffer. If you listened to our podcast this week we discussed how this could easily happen to games as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the R800 price tag for PS4 games becomes the staple for the local market. Or even worse, it could increase.

So if you have a PS4 already, thank your lucky stars, because that’s the cheapest anyone is going to get it for a long time. And if you’re able to vote but haven’t bothered to register yet, this might entice you to get your say out there.

I highly recommend waiting a year or two before buying a console. With elections this year, and the miners still on strike, the rand will not make any gains against major currencies, apart from some act of God. A weaker rand means that our exports will become more competitive, so the rand will eventually (theoretically speaking) stabilize as the months / years go on. Be patient, and vote wisely!

MichaelMatusowsky

Be patient, and don’t vote ANC!

http://www.lomag.co.za/ NeoN

I heard about this a while back and thought it was just Facebook mumbo-jumbo. Disappointed to see it confirmed. :/

Christian Lessing

Good thing I got mine on launch then, sorted.

R3flX199

Now it will be interesting to see what the Xbox One price will be when it launches here or im just importing one that should be cheaper just asking a friend to send it as a gift from the UK sorted! $499=R5,534 and its region free so I can buy games here and they should work